Kerosene Halo “House On Fire” Recording Project

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Help Michael Roe & Derri Daugherty in funding the writing and recording of their second Kerosene Halo album, “House On Fire”….

Michael Roe and Derri Daugherty have come a long way since their beginnings in the early 1980s with their respective bands The 77s and The Choir. In 1991, they joined with DA’s Terry Taylor and Adam Again’s Gene Eugene to form the legendary Lost Dogs. The Dogs’ unique brand of ‘Americana’ music (a little before there actually was such a thing) was an exciting vehicle for Michael and Derri as it allowed them to branch out a bit musically from their own bands. It also formed a deep personal bond between the two when they discovered how their musical tastes often ran parallel to one another, particularly when it came to ‘alt folk’ and other similar styles — classic folk/pop artists like Richard Thompson, Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen were often mentioned in the same breath as modern ones like Wilco, Mark Kozelek, Low and others. “We should form a duo and make a record together of all this kind of stuff that we listen to”, they would often say to each other. They even made an abortive attempt to do so in 1999, but months turned into years and the dream of a duo with beautiful harmonies and open-tuned guitars began to feel more ‘pipe’ than probable.

But the dream refused to die. Finally, during the cold winter months of 2011, our heroes fled to Southern California for some sun and fun but more importantly, to record once again in the historic studio where they first recorded together more than a decade previous — the fabled Neverland Studio that Derri built from scratch and recorded many popular albums in thereafter. There, he and Mike laid the foundational tracks for what would become a new album by a new duo — “Kerosene Halo”. Following the gorgeous sounding album’s release in the late spring, a triumphant tour followed that cemented the boys’ partnership with a solid new base of fans born from The Choir, The 77s, The Lost Dogs and many newcomers who were excited about the unique sound emanating from these long-admired artists. Following the success of that first album and tour, the guys were determined to record and release a new Kerosene Halo album annually. Sadly, inertia set in once again when the usual financial demands upon the life of a musician stymied the new duo and redirected their energies back towards their original three bands.

Four long years later, Michael and Derri were determined to keep their dream alive and make another Kerosene Halo album. However, this time, they wanted to try something that they had hoped to do on the first project — create a full band sound to cradle their delicate harmonies and haunting melodies. Mike tells it like this — “Even though Derald and I are very fond of our traditional folk/country approach with pedal steel and acoustic guitars, we also long to hear the sound of a dark, brooding rhythm section to provide a vibey contrast to our simpler folk sound. We had wanted to have that kind of backup band for part of our first album, but there just wasn’t enough time and money to make it happen. For our upcoming album, we finally made up our minds to carry that plan forward by inviting our fans to participate in the process with us! The two of us have always gotten along like a ‘house on fire’ both musically and personally, and we figured that maybe we could use that metaphor as a template for the kind of heat and urgency we wish to infuse our sound with for our second album. So, for now, we have a working title, “House On Fire”, along with a band consisting of ourselves and several top shelf musicians of the finest pedigree, many of whom are fan favorites we have worked, written, played and recorded with on numerous occasions over the years.”

See the Kickstarter page here.